Just a spark
by neoluxa
Summary: Harry and Louis were happy once, until management and an act of love by Harry made it all go away. Everything's been falling apart around them since then and then Harry makes a move to make it all ok again. Hoping he hasn't lost Louis forever, hoping it isn't too late. Larry stylinson fluff, maybe smut later on...


**My first Larry fanfic, hope you guys enjoy, English is not my native language so sorry for the mistakes.**

Just a spark

Louis pov

Louis was looking in to one of the big mirrors in their shared dressing room. He sighed, he didn't really feel up to performing tonight, he had the worst day ever he felt. He had been in a meeting with Brianna, Danielle and some management folks from Modest for the bigger part of the day. About the whole pregnancy-stunt planning, when to tweet what, when to show up where with whom,…

He felt like his head was going to split from the sheer headache he'd been having since the whole thing even started. It was utterly ridiculous, he'd be surprised if even one fan actually bought in to this nonsense. This wasn't even living anymore, he felt like a puppet on a string, a string held on to by Modest. The reflection in the mirror didn't even look like anyone he recognized anymore. His blue, once vibrant, eyes seemed grey an dull. The lines by his eyes from smiling and laughing all the time were still there but he couldn't even picture himself anymore with a genuine smile on his face. Another deep sigh escaped his lips and he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, knowing he had to face the crowd in less than ten minutes. Appearing to be happy and joyful in front of the public eye.

The last time he'd been happy to go on stage seemed like so long ago. And in fact it was already more than two years ago. He remembered that unfaithful day, every little detail of it was etched in his brain.

It was the 18th of June 2013 and they were performing in Chicago. Backstage he and Harry had been making out like crazy until the final minute before they had to go on. Oooh, his Hazza, tears welled up in his eyes as the memory came back to him. He had given Harry a promise ring the night before, falling to his knee, declaring his never ending love for the boy, promising him to out themselves as soon as the contract expired. And to marry him as soon as it became legal. Harry had beamed like the brightest of stars, a megawatt smile plastered to his face. Crashing in to him and rolling them both over the floor. 'Now kiss me you fool!' He had said. A reference to the famous video footage from when they were both just exploring their feelings for each other.

But on that night in Chicago there was no exploring anymore. They had been living together, sleeping together, kissing each other every day first thing in the morning, they loved each other and were determined to spend their lives together. Modest knew, they didn't approve, but they knew. They had reminded them of their contract over and over again, of the consequences this could have for the band. They'd given them beards, fabricated stories and told their fans so much lies. Just to cover up the fact that Harry and him were head over heels in love with each other.

And on that certain June night in Chicago, still high on the happiness from the night before, Harry had made the mistake that made everything fall apart. The gig had gone so well up till then. They couldn't interact with each other as much as they wanted but they glanced at each other, looks overflowing with fondness. The other boys felt their energy, their happiness and shared in it, were equally jolly on stage. It was a perfect performance, the crowd was amazing, Louis couldn't have been happier. And then they started singing 'Little things'.

Louis was on the staircase sitting at Zayn's feet on the far right of the stage, Harry sat on the bridge in the middle. They serenaded each other, they always did, this song was so… them. As he sat there listening to Harry's solo Zayn bowed over him pulling out his earpiece. 'Harry's over the moon with that ring, Lou. Wouldn't surprise me if he did pull of a special stunt tonight.' Louis shrugged his shoulders and grinned at Zayn. He was going to give Zayn a witty comeback about how they'd already very much stunted in the bedroom the night before after he had gone down on a knee for the lad, knowing Zayn hated hearing details about their sexlife. When all of a sudden he felt Harry's piercing gaze upon him and he heard his voice change just the slightest bit.

He turned to face Harry just in time to hear him sing in front of the whole stadium, in front of the whole damn world, 'I'm in love with Lou, and all his little things.' Louis just sat there, frozen, baffled, open mouth, unable to hide the astonished look on his face as Zayn slapped his shoulder. 'Told ya he would do something!'. Louis heart fluttered, this was literally the sweetest and bravest of gestures. He got a bit teary eyed as he just kept staring in to Harry's beautiful green eyes. Who was now fondly laughing at him with that beaming smile of his.

Sadly the happiness they both had felt in that very moment didn't last very long. Right after they'd gotten of stage and went in to their dressing room they had been waited upon by a furious Paul. 'Have you both lost your f*cking minds? That was the stupidest stunt you ever pulled Harry! Can you guys be anymore obvious? You are both so screwed you know that! This is the end of your career, this little stunt of yours is gonna be all over the tabloids and the internet tomorrow.' Paul was roaring on. All five of them just stood there, too impressed, too scared, too shell-shocked to even utter a word.

When they'd gotten in the van an hour later he had curled up to Harry's side, his hands in Louis' lap. Caressing the promise ring he had given him the night before. 'Hazza…' He whispered. Harry turned to look at him, the shock from Paul's tirade still lingering in his eyes. 'Yeah, Lou…?' 'I want you to know, that, despite the aftermath as an anticlimax, I thought that was really the sweetest thing ever.' Louis said softly, tears already welling up in his eyes again. Harry smiled softly at him, the smile not quite reaching his eyes. 'It really was.' Niall agreed softly beside them. Zayn and Liam were sitting behind them in the van but were nodding in agreement. 'They should just let you guys be free…' Zayn muttered. Harry gave his hand a little squeeze, at least the boys were with them on this one.

That night when Harry and him were entwined with each other in the king-sized bed of Harry's hotel room they both felt a bit shaken up. They both had this bad feeling in their stomach, like an omen. 'I'm scared, Lou, what have I done? What will they do?' Harry let out in a small voice as he was curled up into Louis, being the little spoon. 'It's all gonna be Ok, Hazz, trust me, we'll make it through, we always do.' He whispered into Harry's hair, planting a kiss on his head. Turns out they didn't, it was the last night they'd ever spent together.

Louis felt a tear running across his cheek as he was reminiscing in the dressing room. Liam had noticed, he was standing behind Louis, a hand on his shoulder. 'You ok, Louis? We have to go on. You got this?' he said with a look full of sympathy on his face. Louis just sighed once more and nodded. Whipping the sole tear from his face. The day after the gig, the tabloids and the internet had indeed picked up on Harry's declaration of love. Modest had tightened their grip, they forced Harry to move out, more rules, more control, and bit by bit harry had slipped further and further away.

He had tried to talk to Harry, to convince him that this too would pass, that it was only a rough patch they had to get through. But Harry had closed himself of. Exactly one month after he had given Harry the promise ring, he found an envelope on his desk when he came home. The envelope contained the keys to his apartment, a note and the ring. He had crashed, three hours after he'd found the envelope he was still sitting in the same spot, crying and sobbing like a little kid and gathering the courage to read the note. He knew what it would say, he knew this was the end, that Harry had given up on him.

Trembling and shaking he had opened the note.

 _Lou,_

 _I'm so sorry baby, I just can't anymore…This isn't fair to any of us._

 _Don't hate me._

 _Always in my heart,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Harry._

He had let out a cry, from deep down inside, and ripped the note in a million little pieces. It had felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest. And it still did. He hadn't felt complete again since that day.

It had affected all of them. Louis and Harry acted awkward around each other, plainly ignoring each other for the first few months, then just speaking to each other when they really couldn't avoid it. And now they were just polite to each other, like you would be to a neighbor or a distant relative. The boys had felt it too, the cheerfulness, the playfulness, the innocence, it was all gone. And they all blamed Modest for it. Earlier that year Zayn had even left the band completely not being able to keep faking it any longer.

And now they were back where it all began, London. Louis got up and followed Liam to the stage. Harry appeared from another direction and faintly nodded at Louis while being in a conversation with Niall about the set list. Louis peered through the curtains and his breath hitched at the sight of the crowd, this was going to be a long night.

Harry pov

Harry glanced at Louis who was looking in to the crowd from behind the still closed curtains. His heart jumped, still, every time he looked at the older lad. His Lou, his gorgeous lou, his best friend, his soulmate. He glanced down at his own fingers, all the rings, his finger nails painted, except for one, the one where his promise ring used to be. He kept that finger vacant, always, as if he was saving it for the day he would win Louis back.

For a long time he hadn't even considered that idea to be an option, after the way he had chickened out on Louis, abandoning him when the road got rocky, he didn't think he stood any chance of winning over Louis' heart again. They both had suffered, those first few months after he'd left the envelope in Louis' apartment. He had seen it, seen the life drain from Louis' expression but eventually they had both moved on, sort of… he thought.

Or that was what he liked to make himself think. That Louis was over him, moving on, cause he couldn't stand the thought of both of them still hurting over their relationship. Cause God knows Harry still was, whenever he was alone, not going out with his new hipster friends or rehearsing or touring with the band, he'd be alone in his condo, watching the video diaries from the X-factor days and crying, crying over losing the love of his life because of his own cowardness.

He had regretted leaving the envelope at Louis apartment the second he heard the door slam shut behind him. But Paul and Simon had reassured him it was for the best, that it was in the band's best interest if they weren't a couple anymore. They told him they both would get over each other eventually. And Harry had just wanted to believe them more than anything. He felt ashamed about how he had hurt Louis, about how much of a coward he had been, still a lot younger, not being able to stand up against their management. The shame had prevented him from going to apologize to Louis for a little over two years now, had prevented him from telling Louis he still loved him with all his heart. Until Zayn had showed up at his apartment last April.

It had been clear to all of them that Zayn wasn't happy in the group anymore, he was quiet and grumpy all the time, running late or not even bothering to show up at all. So when two weeks earlier Zayn had announced that he was leaving the band they weren't shocked, they were sad but not shocked. They didn't try to convince him either, those days were gone, nothing got to them anymore, nothing was worth fighting for anymore.

So when he had heard a knock on the door that one night in April, the day before they would release the news to the world that Zayn was leaving, it caught him off guard and Zayn had been the last person he'd expected to see when he went for the door and opened it. 'Zayn… What….? What'y doing here mate?' Harry stuttered, surprised to see the determined look in Zayn's eyes. He hadn't seen him like that in years, so alive it seemed. 'Well hello to you too H, I need to talk to you actually, can I come in?' Zayn's voice was friendly but serious, he sounded like he was on a mission. Harry hesitated for a second thinking about the X-factor recordings playing on his TV in the living room and the box of paper tissues standing on the coffee table. He had been going through the same routine every night this week, looking at Louis and him fall in love all over again and balling his eyes out while doing it.

Zayn coughed to get Harry's attention. 'H… It's important, just let me in, k?' Harry nodded, 'Yeah, course Zayn, sorry, come in…'. Zayn walked in to his living room and stood there as if glued to the floor when he saw what Harry had been watching. 'Right…' he whispered as Harry turned it off as soon as he had found the remote between the cushions and blankets covering his couch.

'Take a seat. You want a beer or something?' he asked. 'Yeah, beer sounds good. God didn't think this was gonna be this awkward.' Zayn sighed, the determination in his voice already wavering. Harry let out a chuckle whilst grabbing two beers from his fridge. 'It is kind of, isn't it? Are you dropping by all our houses tonight to say goodbye or something?' Harry joked handing Zayn the bottle and sitting next to him on the couch.

'No actually, just yours.' Zayn answered now serious again. 'Oh, then, well, what is this about Zayn?' Harry was confused, what would Zayn want to talk to him about? Zayn glanced at the now black TV screen, gathering courage to start saying what he needed to say. 'You still love him, don't you?' he asked quietly. Harry froze, he knew who Zayn was referring to, they'd never talked about anything after it turned ugly. It was never a topic anyone could bring up, as long if nobody talked about it they could all keep it together and act like nothing happened. Except they hadn't kept it together, obviously and things did happen. So Harry let out a sigh, and nodded, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye. He kept on nodding and finally broke the spell be full on admitting it, to Zayn but also to himself. 'Yes, I still love him, I have since the day I met him and I will until the day I die.' Tears now rolling over his cheeks.

Zayn gave him a compassionate look. 'Yeah I figured mate, you know, that's the reason I'm leaving. That right there. You loving him, him loving you and the two of you, heck all of us, being miserable about it. Cause they don't let you be together, they've pushed you guys till you broke. And with you guys breakin, it all broke! Can't you see that Harry? It's all gone to shit since the day Lou and you broke up. Have you seen Lou smile in the last two years? Have you? Cause I've sure as fuck didn't. And then I come here, ready to rub it all in your face, how you basically did this to all of us, and you're sitting here watching those lame ass videos from back in the day and it hit me, you're equally broken. You still love him and you're just to paralyzed in the spot you've been sitting in for almost two years now to do something about it.' Zayn ranted, it was an angry word frenzy, all the frustration he had kept bottled up since that night Paul screamed at them in Chicago, he let it all out now, then and there on Harry's couch.

He put his beer bottle down on the coffee table harder then necessary. As if to make a point his monologue was done. Harry sat frozen in one place, he blinked and then he blinked again and after what felt like ages, and must have been like a minute or two he spoke the only words he could speak at that moment. 'Y-Ya think he still loves me? Like right now, today, you think he still loves me? After all I did to him?' he muttered in a hoarse voice. Zayn rolled his eyes at him, 'Are you fucking kidding me H? Off course, he still loves you! Are you blind? Don't you see how he looks at you, still? How he's still miserable about all of it? Cause everybody does notice it, even the fans do, why'd you think they'd pull that stupid baby stunt on Lou? Cause there are millions of fans out there who see it in your eyes, that you're both still head over heels with each other.'

Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, it was like someone had slapped him in the face. The night he had left the envelope at Louis' apartment, a fire in his heart had gone out. And Zayn's words were like the spark that had ignited it again. Louis still loved him, there was hope, maybe he could make it right again… The thoughts twirled to his head and Zayn sat there looking at him and saw the glow welling up in Harry's eyes. Zayn started smiling, he had done what he came here for, he had planted a seed and the look in Harry's eyes had told him it was taking root. 'Think about it H, don't let this slip out of your hands, I'm not going to be around to witness it anymore but please don't let them live your lives for you. Take it back, do right by Lou…' and with those words he got up and walked out of Harry's apartment.

Harry remained on the couch, silent and thunderstruck, contemplating all the things Zayn had said. Thinking over the last two years and wondering why nobody had spoken up before, why nobody had broken the spell. He felt the fire in his chest again, for the first time in almost two years and right then and there he had decided to win back Louis.

After that night Harry had been acting carefully, still a bit afraid that maybe Zayn had seen it all wrong, afraid to be rejected by Louis, cause he wouldn't survive that. He had made sure to sit next to Louis again during interviews, knees touching and interacting a bit more again, like they used to do. He had been serenading him again at concerts, glancing at him, fondly and loving, but Louis never seemed to notice. Harry had started doubting, doubting Zayn's words, maybe Louis didn't love him anymore, didn't want anything to do with him anymore.

He was still in that doubting place right then and there, standing a few feet away from the object of his affection when Louis turned around and gave him a shy smile before walking off to his spot. Harry had his mouth already open to speak but closed it again as the lights went on and the curtain's started opening. He sighed in frustration and put on his show face, cause all in all the show needed to go on.

The show went good, it felt good to be back in London, still he felt frustrated. He wanted to make sure Louis knew how he felt. He needed to show him, needed to make sure Louis knew. Zayn's words shot through his head. 'Do right by Lou, Don't let this slip…'. He glanced at Louis and for the first time in months he found Louis staring back at him. He couldn't help but smile, and for the first time in years he knew it was a genuine smile, one that reached his eyes too. Louis smiled back, hesitantly, confused almost. And the fire in Harry's chest started getting bigger. 'You're doubting me Lou, let me take away your doubts.' He thought as he kept on singing, serenading Louis.

The show had flown by and they had come to their last song, Harry had it changed on the set list mere minutes before they went on stage. He blinked at Niall and as the intro of '18' started playing he changed spots with him like they'd talked about before the show so he was standing next to Louis.

Louis gave him a questioning, confused look which he answered with a smile and a wink. Upon that Louis looked even more confused but started singing none the less. Harry mentally prepared for his solo. He would fix this whole thing in the same way he had screwed it up in the first place. By declaring his love for Louis in front of the whole world. He listened to the music and turned to Louis, locking their eyes together. He looked at Louis with all the love he had for the man standing next to him and sang, his voice deep and thick with emotion. 'I have loved you since I was 16.'

Louis just stared at him, the crowd went crazy, they were shouting and screaming and Louis just stood there, open mouth, tears in his eyes. For a moment Harry thought he would fall in to his arms and kiss him but then Louis turned around and ran off stage. The music stopped and the crowd went silent. Harry swallowed, what had he done?


End file.
